Shimla: Himachal Pradesh will remove the caste column from school admission forms from the next academic session, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced while chairing a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Caste Welfare Board (HPSCWB) in Shimla.
The Chief Minister said the decision aimed to eliminate caste-based discrimination and promote equality and fraternity among children. He said the removal of the caste column would help ensure that students do not develop a sense of inferiority based on their caste background.
However, caste details will continue to be required when members of the Scheduled Caste community apply for government schemes and other benefits. The government has clarified that the move will not affect the identification of eligible beneficiaries or their access to welfare schemes.
Sukhu said the state government was committed to the welfare and development of the Scheduled Caste community and was taking steps to address issues faced by its members. He directed that eligible beneficiaries should be made aware of various government schemes so that they could avail themselves of the benefits available to them.
Highlighting initiatives aimed at promoting self-employment, the Chief Minister said subsidies were being provided under the Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Swarozgar Saur Yojana for setting up projects ranging from 100 KW to 2 MW. A subsidy of 5 per cent is being provided for projects in tribal areas and 4 per cent in other areas.
He also highlighted the government’s education support measures, saying meritorious students could avail themselves of loans of up to Rs 20 lakh for higher education at an interest rate of one per cent. The scheme is intended to ensure that financial difficulties do not force students to discontinue their studies.
Sukhu further said that the state government would implement the Apna Parivar Sukhi Parivar Yojana for extremely poor families. Under the scheme, eligible families would receive 300 units of free electricity, while women from these families would be provided a monthly pension of Rs 1,500.
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil said that 8,41,917 beneficiaries were currently receiving social security pensions in the state. Old-age men were being provided Rs 1,000 per month, while women, persons with disabilities, widows and deserted or single women were receiving Rs 1,500 per month.
Senior citizens above 70 years of age and persons with more than 70 per cent disability were being provided a monthly pension of Rs 1,700, he said. Around Rs 1,400 crore is being spent on social security pension schemes during the current financial year.
Shandil said the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment was spending approximately Rs 314.90 crore during the current financial year on schemes aimed at the social and economic upliftment of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, women, children and senior citizens.
In addition, Rs 1,105.37 crore has been allocated under the Scheduled Caste Development Programme, reflecting the government’s focus on targeted welfare and development initiatives.
